Chiquita's former head of Colombia operations testified in Florida federal court Thursday on payments he approved to militant groups in the country during a period of intense warfare in the 1990s, saying his company was left with little choice but to make the payments because workers' "lives were at stake."
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TOP NEWS

Chiquita Paid Militants To Save Lives, Ex-Ops Chief Testifies

By David Minsky

Chiquita's former head of Colombia operations testified in Florida federal court Thursday on payments he approved to militant groups in the country during a period of intense warfare in the 1990s, saying his company was left with little choice but to make the payments because workers' "lives were at stake."

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Feds Try To Bar Psychiatrist's Testimony From Menendez Trial

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors have urged a Manhattan federal judge to bar U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez from introducing expert testimony at his upcoming bribery trial that he lived frugally and that his family's escape from an autocratic Cuban regime led him to develop a "fear of scarcity" and store large amounts of cash at home.

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Dilworth Paxson Attys Disciplined Over NJ Eatery Conflict

By Jake Maher

Two Dilworth Paxson LLP partners were sanctioned by the New Jersey Supreme Court this week for investing in a restaurant on the campus of The College of New Jersey at the same time they were legally representing another investment group on the project.

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Law Professor Gets $361K Illegal Recording Verdict Axed

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey federal judge has agreed to vacate a $361,000 verdict against a law professor who a jury determined illegally wiretapped her former son-in-law and invaded his privacy.

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Atty Facing Gag Order Bid Says He's Not 'Ambulance-Chasing'

By Ryan Boysen

Tyrone Blackburn, the attorney for two men suing Fox Rothschild LLP for malpractice, has hit back at the firm after it called attention to a recent ruling referring him to a grievance committee, saying he is "not an ambulance-chasing attorney who lives in front of a camera."

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Kushner-Owned Co. Owes $15M For Scrapped Apartment Deal

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appeals panel has ordered a company owned by Kushner Cos. LLC to pay $15 million to real estate sellers in a $186 million deal that fell apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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POLICY & REGULATION

NJ Gov. Backs Letting Ex-Incarcerated Sit On Juries

By Adrian Cruz

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday that his administration is supporting efforts to restore the right to people who were previously incarcerated to serve on juries, according to an announcement by the governor's office.

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ENFORCEMENT

Cisco Counterfeiting Scheme Earns Fla. Man 6½ Years

By Elliot Weld

A Florida resident was sentenced to 6½ years in prison after pleading guilty to running what New Jersey federal prosecutors said was an "enormous" scheme to sell over $1 billion worth of counterfeit and broken Cisco networking devices.

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LITIGATION

NYC Wants To Bill For 'Weaponized Transport' Of Migrants

By Rachel Scharf

A lawyer for New York City told a state court judge Thursday that Texas bus companies should cover the costs of caring for migrants transported there amid litigation over Gov. Greg Abbott's "budget-breaking scheme" to influence immigration policy.

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NJ Group's Challenge To Town's Pot Law Partially Revived

By Mike Curley

A New Jersey appeals panel has revived state law claims brought by a group challenging the Borough of Highland Park's cannabis licensing laws, while finding that the federal Controlled Substances Act does not preempt either the town's law or state cannabis law.

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THIRD CIRCUIT

3rd Circ. Reopens Chinese Tech Worker's Promotion Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Third Circuit revived a Chinese software engineer's lawsuit Thursday alleging he was denied a promotion and fired by a tax technology company because he complained about racist comments he faced, ruling a lower court evaluated the worker's claims too narrowly.

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3rd Circ. Shuts Down Pa.'s Challenge To EPA Ozone Plan

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Third Circuit on Thursday upheld the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's air emissions plan for coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania, which the state and a company had argued was illegally imposed.

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BANKRUPTCY

Skin Care Drug Co. Gets OK For Ch. 11 Wind-Down Plan

By Rick Archer

A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday said she would approve the unopposed and unanimously approved Chapter 11 wind-down plans of the company previously known as Timber Pharmaceuticals Inc.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Recent BigLaw Moves Show Boston Is 'Clearly On The Map'

By Brian Dowling

Three BigLaw firms' recent moves to build out physical footprints in Boston are a testament to the region's thriving technology, healthcare, life sciences and finance industries — a trend that shows no signs of slowing down, experts say.

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Analysis

If High Court Upends Jan. 6 Conviction, What Happens Next?

By Cara Bayles

If the U.S. Supreme Court decides prosecutors overstepped by charging a rioter who stormed the Capitol with obstruction, the results will likely be mixed for hundreds of other defendants charged with the same crime, particularly those who have been convicted. That post-appeal uncertainty is nothing new, defense attorneys say.

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Goodwin Procter Uses Tech To Promote In-Office Attendance

By Andrea Keckley

Goodwin Procter LLP's chair and managing partner told lawyers and business professionals in an email that the firm would be using new technology to monitor time spent in the office as it looks to promote compliance with its hybrid work policy, the firm confirmed to Law360.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Quinn Emanuel's Steig D. Olson

By Patrick Hoff

When Steig D. Olson was about 7 years old, his mother served as a juror in the trial of an Oklahoma man accused of having a gun in a bar, and Olson's parents took him to see part of the trial.

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Sullivan & Cromwell Creates National Security Practice Group

By Tracey Read

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has launched a national security practice to help clients with matters stemming from the increased use of economic sanctions, anti-money laundering laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, foreign investment regulations, export controls and import restrictions, the firm said Thursday.

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Moses & Singer, Ex-Partner Settle Pregnancy Bias Suit

By Rose Krebs

A New York federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed against litigation firm Moses & Singer LLP by a former partner who accused it of wrongfully firing her after she requested workplace accommodations for her pregnancy, saying the parties have reached "a settlement in principle."

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Coverage Recap: Day 6 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

By Stewart Bishop

Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day six.

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Rules Against Judge Shopping Move Forward At Fed Agency

By Jack Karp

Federal appellate courts should review most government agency actions, and cases involving those actions that wind up in district courts should be subject to district-wide assignment to avoid judge shopping, according to recommendations approved Thursday by a committee of the federal agency charged with improving government rulemaking.

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Schumer Reups Call For His Judge Shopping Bill

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that a suit filed in a controversial Texas court challenging a new firearms policy from the Biden administration underscores the need for his bill to restrict so-called "judge shopping."

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No Atty Fees For Objectors To $5.6B Swipe Fees Settlement

By Lauren Berg

Class members who initially objected to a $5.6 billion settlement with Visa and Mastercard cannot collect nearly $1 million in attorney fees, a New York federal judge ruled Thursday, saying they haven't shown their objections to the original 2013 settlement substantially benefited the class.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Andrews Myers

Arnold & Porter

Babst Calland

Bartlett LLP

Blank Rome

Burns & Levinson

Chiesa Shahinian

Cohen Milstein

Conrad & Scherer

Constantine Cannon

Derek Smith Law Group

DiCello Levitt

Dilworth Paxson

Fisher Taubenfeld

Fox Rothschild

Freed Kanner

Gibbons PC

Gluck Walrath

Goodwin Procter

Gordon Rees

Grant & Eisenhofer

Greenbaum Rowe

Greenberg Traurig

Hantman & Associates

Hilliard & Shadowen

Holwell Shuster

James K. Green PA

Jonathan C. Reiter Law Firm

Jones Day

Latham & Watkins

Littler Mendelson

Lowenstein Sandler

Mason Griffin & Pierson

Morris Nichols

Moses & Singer

Nussbaum Law Group

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Quinn Emanuel

Schertler Onorato

Searcy Denney

Seppinni Law

Simpson Thacher

Skadden Arps

Sullivan & Cromwell

T. A. Blackburn Law PLLC

Wilentz Goldman

Windels Marx

Zucker Steinberg

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union of Texas

American Psychiatric Association

Ansell Ltd.

Apple Inc.

Brooklyn Law School

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Chiquita Brands International Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Earthjustice

Gnarlywood LLC

LEO Pharma AS

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

MasterCard Inc.

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC

New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

New York Civil Liberties Union

Pratt & Whitney

Raytheon Technologies Corp.

Stone Legal Recruiting LLC

The Home Depot Inc.

Thomson Reuters Corp.

Trex Co. Inc.

Vertex Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Administrative Conference of the United States

City of New York

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Judicial Conference of the United States

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Attorney General's Office

New Jersey Supreme Court

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Office of Foreign Assets Control

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court